Oh hindsight, how we love you. Last year 32 players were kept, out of a possible 36 players that can be kept. However, this may be the worst batch of keepers in league history. Take a look for yourself.
1. Rich C – Drew Brees, 3rd Round Come on, how can we not have the league’s MVP as the top keeper from 2008? Not only that, Brees is the only keeper from the ’08 class to end up No 1 at his position.
2. Rich B – Philip Rivers, 15th Round The great irony…Burrier traded away Brees for Rivers last year, now they finish 1-2 in the keeper rankings the following year. However, Burrier traded away Rivers to Colby for Jason Campbell and TJ Housh…ouch. Colby won that round, as Rivers was the third best quarterback in 2008.
3. Matt – Adrian Peterson, 2nd Round Purple Jesus won the rushing title, but more importantly, finished 5th among all backs in fantasy points. However, because Matt will be drafting in the back half of the second round, instead of the front, Peterson’s value skyrockets this season.
4. Don – Greg Jennings, 9th Round Don keeps two top-12 receivers and Jennings was the better of the two. Not bad for a 2007 free agent pick up.
5. Bob – Peyton Manning, 2nd Round It may have seemed like Manning was off his game in ’08, but in reality, he was still the 4th best quarterback in the league. Certainly worth a second round pick.
6. Bob – Brandon Jacobs, 10th Round He finally stayed healthy and produced. Just imagine how good his numbers would be if he didn’t have to share the ball with two other backs. He finished the season as the 12th best back, making him a decent No 1 back.
7. Colby – Marshawn Lynch, 2nd Round While he finished 13th among backs, more was actually expected from the Bills running back. One would expect him to improve again in his third season, but his suspension won’t help though.
8. Rich B – Marion Barber III, 9th Round He was on fire early, looking like the league’s best back and when Felix Jones went down, he was the best RB option in the league. Then he busted his toe and struggled to regain his power. He fell out of the top 10 and finished 15th among backs.
9. Robio – Brian Westbrook, 1st Round Despite all the nagging injuries, Westbrook still managed to hit the top ten, but this is Westbrook and anything out of the top five is a disappointment.
10. Matt – Wes Welker, 13th Round He lost Brady, but still caught over 100 balls somehow. Too bad he only averaged about eight yards per catch. Having said that, he finished one spot ahead of Owens (below) among WR’s, but while Don landed Owens in the second, Matt got Welker in the 13th round.
11. Griff – Reggie Wayne, 2nd Round Can you really call being the 9th best receiver disappointing? Yeah, you can. Wayne is the clear No 1 pair of hands in Indy, which means he should be a top three receiver. 9th best is great, but not Reggie Wayne-great.
12. Don – Terrell Owens, 2nd Round He dropped way too many balls and disappeared in some games, but in others he personally handed Don some victories. After being a top-five back the last few years, Owens “fell” to 13th among receivers.
13. Molly – Dallas Clark, 13th Round Our first tight end on the list. Dallas was solid all season, grabbing more balls from Peyton than anyone else. He actually finished one spot behind Witten (below), but Clark didn’t miss any time, so we give him a bump up.
14. Griff – Jason Witten, 13th Round He was easily on pace to finish the second straight season as the No 1 tight end, but like so many other Cowboys in 2008, he got hurt. Still, despite all the problems, he still finished second behind Tony Gonzalez.
15. Eric – Tony Romo, 5th Round Injuries cost him four important games and Eric had little in relief. However, he still managed to finished 10th. Not bad.
16. Rob M – Brandon Marshall, 11th Round He finished 11th, which makes him a No 1 receiver, which is pretty solid considering he was suspended for his first two games. However, if you look deeper, you can see that three wonderful games masks some pretty average showings down the stretch.
17. Rich C – Dwayne Bowe, 7th Round Consider the fact that he had no good quarterback throwing the ball to him, finishing 19th isn’t too bad. That makes him a decent No 2 pair of hands. Nothing wrong with landing a No 2 WR in the seventh.
18. Griff – Ryan Grant, 6th Round Nagging injuries turned 2007’s biggest sleeper into a near bust. He was still starter worthy, but barely, as he landed in the 23rd spot.
19. Robio – Bernard Berrian, 8th Round He was terrible until I cut him, then he blew up for Colby for a handful of games. For the first time in his career, was worth a start, at least as a No 2 receiver, finishing as the 23rd best pair of hands.
20. Robio – Cowboys DST, 12th Round Like Berrian, the Cowboys didn’t produce until after I cut them. In fact, down the stretch they were one of the better D’s, helping to lead Don to the 2008 title.
21. Eric – Kellen Winslow, 13th Round A disease nut sack killed Winslow’s season, which put him on Eric’s bench for almost the entire season.
22. David – Owen Daniels, 13th Round With so many solid no-name tight ends out there, Dave kept starting the 25th best tight end in the league. That’s why Jeff is a new league owner.
23. Bob – JaMarcus Russell, 15th Round He probably could be lower, but since Bob never played him…no harm, no foul.
24. Molly – Marques Colston, 7th Round Like so many on this list, injuries derailed a promising season, made all the more painful by the fact the Saints offense was so dominating. He was suppose to be top 10, but he finished 42nd at WR.
25. David – Ernest Graham, 6th Round He was solid early on, which help keep Dave above .500, but when he was lost for the year, then Dave’s season went south.
26. Rich C – Anthony Gonzalez, 12th Round He had sleeper written all over him, but with Harrison back and Dallas Clark stealing so many balls, Gonzalez couldn’t even crack the top-40. He was cut by Rich by mid-season.
27. Matt – Fred Taylor, 7th Round Bomb. He was hurt, thus opening it up for Jones-Drew to run over the league down the stretch. Taylor finished 55th among backs.
28. Rob M – Braylon Edwards, 9th Round In 2007, Edwards was the third best receiver. In 2008, he finished 27th and even that seems way too high. Easily, in my mind, the biggest non-injury bust of ’08.
29. Rob M – Joseph Addai, 5th Round Wow, he just fell flat, didn’t he? Addai was already a star, it was just a matter of ‘when’ he would become elite. He never did. He crashed and burned, allowing Rhodes to produce more rushing yards.
30. David – Tom Brady, 3rd Round Let’s just lay out the stats for the season: 7-11, 76 yards, no touchdowns. One ACL tear in week one.
31. Colby – Derek Anderson, 8th Round Wow, talk about not panning out the way you thought it would. He and Braylon Edwards were suppose to light up the Cleveland sky. This one was costly, as Colby was unable to solve his QB woes until week ten.
32. Eric – Selvin Young, 6th Round Young predicted he would rush for 2,000 yards. Starting in the mighty Broncos offense, he allowed Eric to grab Fitzgerald in the first round. Well, Selvin came up 1,697 yards short of 2,000, finishing as the 103rd best back in football.
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